Community hold vigil in support of woman who was gang raped in abandoned building
JOBURG - A candle-lit vigil and prayer held by the Office of the MEC for Community Safety in Gauteng during a gathering outside the entrance of the hijacked building.
A candle-lit vigil was held outside an abandoned building on Lilian Ngoyi Street on 30 May. The vigil was in light of the recent spate of rapes and murders of women in parts of Johannesburg, including the alleged gang rape of a 22-year-old pregnant women by 11 men at the building on 16 May.
The vigil comes a day before the expected second appearance of the 11 suspects accused of the woman’s gang rape at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.
Sizakele Nkosi, the Minister for Community Safety in Gauteng headlined the event and called on the masses to stand firm in the fight against crime. She said that the abandoned building where the vigil was being held harbours criminals and needs to be dealt with accordingly.
“Criminals have decided to name it ‘Mnyama Ndawo’ (a dark place), and so we’re here today to switch on the light and turn it into a place of light,” said Nkosi. “We’d also like to raise awareness around the plight women that are raped, particularly the woman that was three months pregnant and raped by eleven men in the same building.”
Nkosi added that visits to various hijacked buildings in the inner city would be made in order to ‘reclaim the streets’ and mobilise solutions towards tackling the the ills propagated by abandoned buildings. “All the buildings that are hotspots in the City of Johannesburg will be targeted. The issue will also be raised with the City’s planning and safety departments in order to enforce by-laws.”
